


The Right Kind of Medicine

by hybridshade (shimyaku)



Series: A Claim to Stake [2]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alpha Jared, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Body Modification, Depression, Desperation, Dubious Consent, Hurt Jensen Ackles, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Pain, Rimming, Rough Sex, Transformation, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-30
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-06 23:14:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/741305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimyaku/pseuds/hybridshade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been two weeks since Jared claimed Jensen as his mate, thus preventing his last heat from claiming his life. But Jensen still hasn't recovered, and they're running out of options in order to save him.</p><p><b>A/N:</b> Sequel to 'A Claim to Stake'. A lot of this probably won't make sense without reading the first part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Right Kind of Medicine 1/2

**Title:** The Right Kind of Medicine 1/2  
 **Author:** [](http://hybridshade.livejournal.com/profile)[**hybridshade**](http://hybridshade.livejournal.com/)  
 **Pairing:** Jared/Jensen  
 **Rating:** nc17  
 **Warnings:** AU, ABO/Were- society, omega!Jensen, alpha!Jared, angst, heat, self-lubrication, sick!Jensen, vague dub-con, minor medical speak.  
 **Word count:** 7300~  
 **Summary:** It's been two weeks since Jared claimed Jensen as his mate, thus preventing his last heat from claiming his life. But Jensen still hasn't recovered, and they're running out of options in order to save him.  
 **A/N:** Sequel to [A Claim to Stake](http://hybridshade.livejournal.com/4108.html). This got longer than expected so I've split it into two parts. A lot of this probably won't make sense without reading the first part.

 

 

Jared poked his head in the bedroom to ask if Jensen felt like eating dinner, but he found that once again the other man had fallen asleep. Honestly, he was starting to get quite worried. It had been two weeks since Jared had claimed the omega as his mate. Two weeks since Jensen had been on the verge of death and Jared had scooped him up from the precipice. It was still hard to believe.

Sebastian had kindly offered for the two of them to stay as long as it took to get Jensen better, and indeed while most of his scrapes and bruises had healed, he was still barely able to keep food down, and though he slept all day, his fatigue never seemed to lessen.

Moving to the older man’s side, Jared knelt down and laid a hand over his forehead, frowning at the fevered warmth that continued to burn through his skin. He had thought that the effects of the heat would subside once he’d claimed Jensen and allowed him to rest, but several of the symptoms persisted even now, often making Jensen uncomfortable and unable to sleep peacefully, or making him embarrassed to be in front of their friends despite that Misha was an omega as well.

He pulled the covers up a little further, just to give his hands something to do, and headed back out to the lounge room where Misha and Seb were sitting in front of the TV, eating their meal from the coffee table. Jared slumped down in one of the sofa chairs and propped his head up on one arm. His own appetite had been waning in accordance with Jensen’s reluctance to eat, and his usual overabundance of energy was being sapped as if some invisible force was leeching it out through his skin.

“I’m guessing he’s asleep again,” Sebastian spoke up, his hand on the TV remote, lowering the volume.

“Yeah.”

“You need to eat too, Jared,” Misha piped in, actively handing him the third plate from the table.

Jared took it and placed it in his lap, but ended up merely staring at the food, not quite able to bring himself to lift the fork and take a bite. He could feel the disapproving stares of the other two men in the room, and it suddenly felt like his mother was there shaking a finger at him.

“Jared,” Seb said gently, like he was about to drop a bombshell, “I know a doctor who specialises in omega issues. I’m going to ask him to stop by to check both of you out, alright?”

That certainly caught his attention, and Jared looked up at the other alpha, more than a little puzzled. “Why would he need to check me out? Jensen’s the one that’s sick.”

The two older men shared a knowing look and turned back to him, Misha reaching out to take his hand and pat it comfortingly. “Jared, even we can see that you’re starting to wilt, and we aren’t even in the medical field.”

“What? Wilt?”

“Just as an omega’s health can fade when their alpha doesn’t care for them properly, so too can an alpha fade if he’s not doing right by himself and his mate.”

Jared’s expression dropped. “What do you mean? I’m doing everything I can for—"

"Clearly not _everything_ ," Sebastian cut in, "Usually a newly mated pair fuck like the proverbial rabbits for at least the first few weeks, to cement their bond amongst other things. But you being all gentle giant-like, with Jensen so frail I can only imagine that you've barely touched him since you brought him here."

Misha hummed in agreement. "One of the many burdens of being an omega, Jared, is that we're hardwired to require a nice big cock up our ass a couple of times a week at the very least. If you haven't fucked him in a fortnight it's no wonder."

Jared blinked. And inhaled.

=////=

Returning to the bedroom, Jared found Jensen in the process of sitting himself up against the headboard. He smiled in greeting and reached out to Jared and the steaming mug in his hand.

"It's some herbal concoction that Misha came up with," Jared said, making sure Jensen had it firmly in his hands before he let it go, "No idea what's in it but he was adamant you have it."

Taking the mug, Jensen took a quick whiff of the drink and wrinkled his nose up in distaste. "Fucker's a sadist."

Chuckling, Jared watched on as his mate drank it down regardless, shooting him pained looks after each mouthful. Once finished, he helped Jensen to the bathroom to brush his teeth and relieve himself, then back to the bed where he hopped in alongside the omega. They both lay on their sides facing each other in the semi-dark, and Jared wanted so badly to touch him and kiss him, knot him like Misha and Seb had encouraged him to do, but it had been difficult enough for Jensen just to get up to take a leak and Jared agonised over how much of a toll it would take on his mate's body to—

"What is it Jared?" Jensen interrupted his thoughts, reaching across the space between them to take his hand and tug him closer, "I can tell something's bothering you."

A small smile swept across his lips – even in ill health his mate was remarkably perceptive. "I'm just… worried, I guess. Seb said he's getting a doctor to come see us tomorrow. Apparently he specialises in omegas and their mating issues."

Jensen frowned. "I hope you don't think that's implying that _you're_ an issue."

"But I am." Jared glanced down to where their hands were intertwined, even though there was a sheet, blanket and quilt in the way. It just seemed an easier place to look than his mate's probing eyes. "Misha said that I'm wilting."

"…Oh, Jared, I'm so sorry." Jensen dragged their hands over to his side of the bed, so they were resting against his chest. “And I feel even worse that I didn’t notice anything, but I guess I just haven’t been awake enough, have I?” There was a certain inflection to his voice that alerted Jared to the omega's underlying guilt, and that just wouldn't do.

"Don't apologise, it's not your fault."

"But it is. I mean…" Jensen bit his lip. "I guess it's both our faults, technically."

Jared smiled again. "I suppose I can deal with that."

"You know how to treat that, right?"

"Treat what? The wilting? Yeah, we have to find a way to get better simultaneously, otherwise one of us—"

"That may be true, but there _is_ something we can do to get started."

"What do you—?"

Jared gasped when his mate kissed the hand he still held captive and then dragged it down the front of his body, Jared's fingertips igniting with each brush against a nipple, the bump of a rib, the dip of his navel, the ridge of his hip bone.

"You need to start connecting with me more," Jensen whispered, his voice sounding laboured and weak even in its vehemence, but he carried on as if it didn't bother him either way. "I'm an omega, I grew up in D9, I know how this is supposed to be. I need you constantly, don't you know? Need you all day, against me, inside me… I'm not a human with a bad strain of the flu or something, Jared."

Shuffling across the mattress, Jensen pulled their bodies flush together, urging Jared's hands to rub him all over. At first Jared couldn't bring himself to pull away, equally desperate for his mate's touch, but as the contact continued, he realised there was something drastically amiss with Jensen's reactions. His mate kept jerking and spasming with each press of his hands against his limbs or torso, like he was being poked with sharp objects, and not at all like he was finding any comfort in the touches as he implied. It also wasn't difficult for Jared to notice the distinct lack of arousal on Jensen's part.

"Jensen, you have to stop this. I can tell it's hurting you."

"You need this, Jay," Jensen insisted, not letting up on his manipulation of Jared's hands, "The thought of you wilting… becoming like this… I can't deal with that."

Troubled, but certain he couldn't let this go on, Jared grabbed his mate's wandering hands, holding them tight but gently within his fists. "And I can't deal with you being in that much pain, even if you think it'll help. Let's just… let's just wait until we talk to this doctor tomorrow, okay? If he's a crackpot then we'll deal with that later, but let's not do this right now. Please?"

With a distressed whimper, Jensen buried his head against Jared's shoulder with a 'thud', tears of frustration carrying his misery down the side of his face until it pulled him into an exhausted slumber. For Jared, sleep was a long time in coming, but at least it granted him a little time to hold his mate against him.

=////=

Jared found himself woken to the feeling of Jensen shifting awkwardly against him. Checking the clock by the bedside he found it wasn't even two hours since his mate had fallen asleep in his arms, and wondered if maybe his proximity had set the older man off. It wouldn't be the first time Jensen had woken him because of night-sweats or fever or an acute flare of arousal – all lingering effects from the final heat Jared had supposedly saved him from. Jensen had even taken to sleeping with a towel underneath him at waist level in case his body started producing an inordinate amount of slick without warning, which had happened a couple of times, including once when he'd made the effort to go out and sit at the dinner table one night. Jared could tell his mate still felt the sting of the humiliation, despite that he'd only been amongst close friends, and ever since he'd been reluctant to leave the safety of the bedroom.

Wondering what Jensen's predicament was this time; Jared switched on the bedside lamp and gathered the omega against him, holding his face in his hands.

"Jensen? Jensen, look at me." Jared gave the other man a nudge, attempting to get him to focus. "Hey, hey, talk to me."

" _Jay_ ," his mate moaned, his eyes glossy and staring into space, "So hot, Jay… burning…"

It wasn't hard to tell that Jensen was a little more fevered than usual, but it was nothing they hadn't experienced at least half a dozen times during the past two weeks.

"Jen, you're just having a flare-up. We just need to wait it out. It'll be gone in—"

"No, no, different this time," Jensen said, his head shaking back-and-forth, his hands starting to claw at Jared's bare chest.

"What do you mean? What's different?"

His mate's breaths were heavy and had him struggling against fatigue. "Think Misha put somethin' in my tea. I've—"

"What?! That motherfucker—"

"—been awake for 'bout an hour. Getting worse. Tried not to wake you, but…"

"Fuck, Jen, you shoulda woken me. What's going on, then? What do you need me to do?"

Jensen slumped against him for a moment while he regathered his strength. "Know you didn't wanna, but you gotta fuck me Jay. Some sorta heat-inducing thing, aphrodisiac, I dunno… But you gotta fuck it outta me, please."

For all that he'd been reluctant lately; Jared could see that his self-appointed righteousness wasn't going to win out this time. Jensen's recent fevers and heat-spikes only ever lasted somewhere in the vicinity of thirty minutes, but if this had been building for an hour already… he couldn't let his mate suffer that if he could do something about it - that is, what he probably should've been doing all along but was too afraid to.

"Yeah, okay, Jen. I'll do it. Are you wet enough?"

Groaning, the omega pressed wantonly up against him, rubbing his hardened cock over Jared's thigh. "So wet, Jay. It's pourin’ outta me, all that slick, ready for you…"

" _Shit_ , hold on."

Pushing his mate away for a moment, Jared flung back the bedcovers and rose up to his knees, manhandling Jensen until he was flat on his back with his legs spread in the air. He could see immediately that the other man hadn't been joking; his lubrication was considerable enough that it had flowed down the back of his ass and started soaking up into the towel. It didn't seem to have the sweet scent that it usually did, but Jared didn't really have time to worry about such a thing. He took his half-hard dick in hand and stroked it hard and fast, trying to get it with the program and catch up to his mate's present state.

Once he was at full length, Jared dragged himself through the excess slick slowly trickling its way down the crack of Jensen’s ass, coating the tip until it was wet and shiny, and then gradually he eased his cock into the intense heat of his mate’s body, the clutch of his tight tract stealing the air from his lungs. How he’d managed to refrain from this for two weeks he had no idea.

He paused as he bottomed out, his balls feeling sticky against the slick clinging to Jensen’s skin, and he ran his hand up the length of the older man’s thigh, hooking it around his hip. His mate was going to be sore later - Jensen had been so weak and sleeping so much that he’d lost a lot of the strength and flexibility he’d had previously, so Jared had been helping him out daily with simple stretches and massages. It helped, certainly, but the act they were currently engaged in would be the most strenuous activity either of them had taken part in since their initial mating.

“Please, Jay, please,” Jensen mumbled the words over and over, like some kind of religious mantra. Jared swept the sweat-damp hair off his brow and pressed a tender kiss there.

“I know, Jen, I just don’t wanna hurt you.”

“Won’ ‘urt me, couldn’ if y’ tried... Please, jus’ fuck me a’ready, ‘s killin’ me.”

With a nod, Jared slipped his hands around his mate’s hips and used his strength to hold them slightly off the bed, angling them just right so that he’d be able to do all the work and Jensen wouldn’t have to move. He started slow, grinding with short, rolling twists of his hips, before he gradually began to thrust in earnest, pulling right back until just the head of his cock remained inside the omega, and then driving forward in a way that had Jensen biting deep gouges into his arm in attempt to keep quiet.

His knot soon began to swell, the weight of it creating the most obscene wet popping sounds each time he retracted from Jensen’s hole. Jared was soon struggling to force his knot inside, his mate’s body being nowhere near as loose as it had been when Jared had taken him in the town square, not to mention that after two weeks break Jensen’s ass had tightened up considerably.

“Please, Jay... need it in me.”

Jensen’s voice was but a whisper, and it sounded as if he were on the verge of passing out. Not bothering to take the time to answer, Jared merely forced his cock back into his mate’s ass with a hearty growl, Jensen’s hips jolting up as the knot lodged inside and his come began to flow. Jared leaned down to gnaw hungrily at the side of Jensen’s throat, his hands touching his mate haphazardly and all over - his shoulders, his stomach, his thighs, his fingers swirling through the self-made mess on his mate’s stomach, wherever he could reach.

“Sorry if I’m hurting you,” he said regretfully. Jensen just laughed - it was more like a shuddering wheeze than a chuckle, but Jared recognised it for what it was.

“If this’s what being hurt feels like, baby you can hurt me anytime you want.”

Jared attempted a smile but it fell short. He wanted to laugh too, to engage in the moment and take the utmost pleasure in being buried balls-deep in his omega, his come still pumping into him – the most natural sensation any alpha could experience. Yet the pool of anxieties that had been stewing in his gut over the past couple of weeks were still there and as crushing as ever, even the bliss of being joined with his mate for the first time since their mating wasn’t enough to quell his troubled thoughts. It occurred to Jared suddenly that this was the influence of his wilting, and it was worse than he’d imagined.

Gathering Jensen into his arms, Jared sat back on his knees and pulled them both upright, his mate wrapping too-thin limbs around him and groaning loudly when he slipped even deeper onto Jared’s cock. Jensen’s muscles contracted and Jared gasped as he was squeezed tight, fingers clutching at his mate’s back as another load of come emptied itself into Jensen.

“Fuck, can we just _live_ like this?” Jensen murmured against Jared’s neck, breath fluttering against his collarbone, “Stuck together with your knot in my ass, filling me up with your come... It’d be amazing.”

“Sounds perfect,” he agreed, looking away to hide the shine of his eyes. He wanted that too, so very badly, and he resolved right then and there that he’d do whatever was necessary to have both himself and his mate healed of their invisible wounds.

=////=

Cracking open one eye, Jared found himself with his head buried in the side of Jensen's thigh, the omega already upright with both their pillows propped behind his back. Jared pulled himself up with a groan and nuzzled appreciatively at the bite-shaped bruise forming on Jensen's neck. It took a moment for it to actually register that Jensen was _awake_ and _upright_ before him, dressed in pyjamas and even had a bowl of porridge balanced in his lap.

"You're up?" he queried, voice still hoarse from sleep.

"Well observed," Jensen teased, taking one more bite of the porridge before setting it aside.

Jared watched with curiosity. "Don't stop on my account."

"No, no, I've had enough anyway. I was feeling okay enough to eat something, but I don't wanna overdo it."

"Good idea," Jared agreed, happily winding his arms around his mate's middle. In his opinion, he'd seen more of Jensen's upchucked meals lately than was reasonable. "So you're feeling a bit better today, huh?"

"Somewhat," Jensen grinned, "Must have something to do with that magical healing cock of yours."

Jared smirked. "Ah, so now you know my secret. But you mustn't tell, else the whole district will be after me and I know how jealous you get…"

Jensen snorted and pulled him in for a porridge-flavoured kiss, Jared's hands working their way under his mate's shirt and skimming the over-warm skin of his back. Jensen's body was still hotter than normal, and still as skinny as ever, but he no longer seemed in pain to feel Jared's touch, and that was about as big a positive as he could hope for.

The morning continued on with Jared helping Jensen to shower and dress in clean sweats, and for the first time in two weeks his mate didn't go straight back to bed afterward, instead following Jared out into the living room and settling on the couch. They watched TV with Jensen curled into Jared's side, his head on his shoulder, and all was well for the first time.

It was just nearing lunchtime when Jared noticed it. Jensen had fallen asleep with his head in Jared's lap, looking as good as he'd ever seen him, but soon he'd suddenly started to tremble, his clothes clinging to the sweat leaching copiously from his skin. Jared had tried to wake his mate and ask him what was going on but Jensen had only mumbled nonsense in reply, his eyes glassy with fever and his skin now even paler than usual. Fetching a cold-pack from the fridge, Jared pressed it to the omega's forehead, and managed to get him to take some small sips of water – it was a good start, but not enough to forestall any further deterioration of Jensen's health.

By a stroke of luck the doorbell rang, and Jared rose from his mate's side to greet Sebastian's friend Dr Morgan whom he ushered immediately into the lounge room. The doctor put his bag down and examined Jensen's condition without a word, checking his temperature and blood pressure and the reaction of his pupils to light. The man scratched thoughtfully at his scruffy beard before turning to Jared and telling him to sit.

"You're pretty damn lucky Seb called me," the man drawled, his voice deep and resonating, "Any longer and I'd probably be giving your mate here a death sentence instead of a shred of hope. You're Jared right?"

Jared swallowed and nodded.

"So Jensen here, he's hanging on by a thread right now, I don't have to poke or prod anywhere to be able to see that. And you, too, are well on your way to being in a similar state. We haven't got any time to waste if you're both going to make a full recovery. And even now Jensen may not get through this unscathed – you need to be prepared for that."

"But what- what does—"

"It means," the doctor interrupted, "That Jensen was far too deep into his last heat when you found him, and that you've been treating him far too carefully since. Seb told me that you haven't been fucking him, and I'll tell you now, you can't treat Jensen like a sick human, 'cause he ain't one. You gotta treat him like a sick omega."

Jared gaped, well aware of what the doctor was saying. "He can barely stand—"

"Doesn't matter, son. Yeah, maybe you'll hurt him a bit at first, but you're doing far more damage by _not_ claiming him as often as possible. So, my prescription for the day? _Your_ cock. Up _his_ ass. It's fool proof."

"We- we did that. Last night. And yes, he was doing okay this morning for a while, but then he regressed back to this in less than an hour."

"Because you didn't keep at it, that's why. You need to take your vitamins and keep your mate here stuffed full for as many hours of the day as you can stand. Although…" The doctor tapered off, scratching at his beard again before pulling a small, leather-bound notebook from his satchel and flipping through a few pages. "Y'know, it's been a while since I saw a case this severe… They don't come 'round that often."

"And?" Jared prompted, wondering where the doctor's thoughts were heading.

"Another Doc I know over in D3 had a similar situation. The omega actually became allergic to his alpha. They had to wean him back on to his alpha's touch – he was sick for a long time, but he did get through it."

"Is that what you think's going on? That Jensen's become allergic to me?"

"It's hard to say since you've only been with him the once. You need to try again and see if he gets any worse."

"And if that's not it? What then? There has to be more you're not telling me. I just…" Jared huffed and fumbled for the right words, "Somehow I just _know_ that there's more at work than my not fucking Jensen enough. I _know_."

Dr Morgan got up from where he'd been kneeling on the floor and began to pace. He came back after a few minutes and scribbled something down, then continued to stare at the page, concurrently chewing on the end of his pen.

"Honestly, the more I think on it, the more I'm not sure." The doctor put his notebook down but continued to fiddle with the pen, taking a seat in one of the spare sofa-chairs. "Let me lay a few things out for you, since I can tell you're going to agonise over it if I don't. My initial opinion is that it's a combination of things. The fact that your age gap is more than five years and that the alpha is the younger in the partnership is a possible problem. The fact that Jensen went into his last heat before he even reached thirty could signify some underlying sickness or trauma that's only started affecting him now. Seb informed me over the phone that he didn't think Jensen had been with an alpha for a number of years, and also suggested he'd been on some kind of suppressants, both of which are possible problems. On top of all that, the mere fact that he was probably less than a day away from dying when you mated him could mean that his body has already done irreparable damage to _itself_ that may not be able to be healed."

Minutes passed in silence, Jared staring blankly at the doctor, and the doctor staring right back at him. He felt lost and defeated, like there was nowhere to turn, like Jensen had been diagnosed with some incurable disease and there was nothing they could do but sit back and watch him suffer. He glanced over to his mate, still lying half-conscious on the couch, fevered tremors still wracking his slight frame. If Jensen's ailments and his own wilting were really a combination of all those things, then what chance was there to come back from it?

"What do we do?" Jared eventually forced out, his voice sounding small and wretched even to his own ears.

"First," Dr Morgan stated, counting the points out on his fingers, "I take blood samples from you both and get them tested – there are things I need to rule out before we do anything drastic. Second, you knot your mate like you're supposed to, and if he doesn't get any worse then you _keep on_ knotting til you pass out and then some. Third, you feed him lots of proteins – nuts, beans and eggs, but no meat. Fourth… Fourth is the big one. It involves hormone treatments, and we want to be sure before we start that kind of thing, 'cause there's no going back."

Jared read between the lines. "But you think it's unavoidable."

"Unfortunately I do. I have seen cases somewhat like yours, though it's been a while as I said. In all cases such treatments were the only thing we could turn to – sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't." The doctor looked forlornly at the thoroughly chewed up pen in his hands, and Jared could tell he was remembering one of those cases – they didn't sound like something a person would easily forget.

"Anyway," the man went on, "Likely we'll have two options. One being that we load you both up with Were hormones and send you into an acute form of heat, and hope that the overload stimulates both your bodies back into making the chemicals you're lacking right now. The second option is basically the antithesis of the first – we give you human hormones that will interrupt your functions as a Were. There'll be no heat, no knotting, no pheromones or hypersensitive smell and no sense of each other. If it works then we eventually taper them off and hope your bodies do a full reboot, but after such a treatment it may also be that some of your Were behaviours don't return."

Jared found himself struck speechless. He watched on through a thick daze as the doctor took vials of blood from them both and injected something into Jensen to calm him down. Dr Morgan gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he picked up his satchel and readied himself to leave.

"I know it's a lot to think about, son, but you've got a very sick omega over there that needs you and your strength more than anything. It's time to start thinking for two."

 

=////=

Jared was standing out on the balcony of Seb's apartment when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He kept it with him all the time despite that he'd barely paid attention to it since he arrived at District 9 – once he'd realised he was going to be there a while with Jensen, he'd called the bare minimum of people so that he didn't lose his apartment or his job and so that no one thought he'd died or anything, but he'd otherwise ignored the thing, not exactly in the mood for much talking.

He should have expected, however, that people would eventually start wondering why his two day long trip had dragged on for two weeks, so with a sigh he checked the caller ID and answered as cheerfully as he was able.

"Hey, Ma. How are you?"

"Jared, honey, I'd be a lot better if I knew why I got a call from one of your workmates wondering where you were!"

He couldn't help but sigh again, his façade fading away like a snuffed candle flame.

"Some things happened, so I'm still in D9. I already called Mr Kripke though. I told him not to go blabbing to the rest of the office but it sounds like he hasn't told anyone at _all_ \- good thing he's the boss, right?"

" _Jared_ ," his mother stressed, "What kind of _things_ are you talking about? I'm worried sick over here. You're not in the hospital or something, are you?"

"No, no. Not in the hospital." Jared pressed his fingers to his temple, wondering how to even start such a conversation. "Ma, I-… When-… When I arrived here… I kind of… met my mate and—"

"Oh, honey, that's wonderful! You need to bring her over to meet us! Holding out on me for two weeks already, shame on you, son! You know I—"

"Ma! Listen! It's not that simple."

"What could possibly not be—"

"My mate's an omega."

His admission had come out so fast it sounded as though it were all just one long word, but seemingly his mother had understood all the same, and was taking her time processing it.

"He- he's sick," Jared went on, "That's why I'm still here. I can't leave right—"

"Of all the things," his mother muttered. The disappointment in her voice was palpable. "Oh, Jared, why do you always have to take the hard road? You know what they say about alphas who end up with omegas, don't you?"

'They' said all sorts of things about those alphas who ended up with omegas, but Jared figured she was talking about their predisposition to preferring males. Such topics had always been an issue in D2 while he was growing up and his parents had been no exception.

"I know what they say, Ma. I know all of it because it applies to me and it always has. But I can't help that my mate is who he is, and I wouldn't want to because he's amazing and more brave than words and I can't imagine ever wanting anyone else."

Jared took a breath, wondering if his mother might hang up on him. She'd done it back when he'd called to say he was going to a human university – it was a move she and his father still begrudged him for. But still, she remained on the line. He could faintly hear her breathing for a long moment before she finally cleared her throat.

"Well. In that case, you'd better tell me why he's ill."

"When I-… He’s 28 already, and when I found him he was in the throes of his last heat. He still hasn't recover—"

"Oh, heavens above! I need to sit down." Jared listened as she stepped across what he guessed to be the kitchen floor and pull out a seat at the dining table. He could hear her troubled sighs as she composed herself. "You've really gone all out this time, haven't you? Any other revelations you'd like to drop while you're at it? Jared, really… I don't know how to react to all this. I'm sorry, but I just don't."

"All I ask is that you try and be supportive of me and Jensen. That's all I want. I don't expect anything from you or dad or anyone else. Things are too tough right now, besides."

There was a long pause, but then her voice turned soft. "…Jensen. That's his name?"

"Yeah." Jared could feel the tears threatening to spill onto his cheeks, and blinked furiously to will them away. "Would you believe he's a writer?"

"Oh, Jared…"

"I know. I laughed when he told me. Asked if he thought it might be fate that he'd mated an editor-in-training from a well-known publishing company. He got a kick out of that."

"I'm sure. But, Jay… is he going to get better? They say that if you leave it too long the omega will die anyway, and then what will happen to _you_?"

Jared swallowed, holding his tongue about his own state – the last thing he needed was his mother worrying about _him_ , let alone his mate. He wondered briefly if she or his dad even knew what it meant for an alpha to wilt. Both of them had grown up in areas very alike to D2, and since it was only alphas mated to omegas that were prone to the condition and omegas were so few, it was more than likely they'd never even heard of it. "No one's sure about anything. We saw a doctor earlier today, but right now we just have to wait and see."

"Okay… And when he does get better you're going to have to introduce us, alright?"

"Sure," he agreed, not able to answer any other way. By the time such an event came around his parents should hopefully be used to the whole thing, which brought up another matter. "Ma, will you tell Dad for me?"

"If you think there's any way I wouldn't then clearly I've taught you nothing."

He had to smile at that. "Fair enough. Ma… I should really go now, I think…"

"Yes, very well. Bye honey."

Hanging up the phone, Jared took a breath and decided to be glad that he'd both gotten through a conversation he'd been dreading _and_ had ended it on a mildly positive note. Had he been a betting man he would have bet against it, but it would've been a wager he'd gladly have lost.

 

=////=

Sweat was pouring down Jared's back when he finally buried his knot in his mate's ass, shuddering through his orgasm and delighting in the sounds of Jensen's own pleasure as he was filled up with Jared's come. Jared burrowed his nose in the crook of Jensen's neck, inhaling his present but barely-there scent – the air in their room was thick with the smell of stale sweat and come, but not with the scent of his mate, and it hurt. He found himself floating somewhere between the ecstasy of fucking his mated omega and the overwhelming weariness that threatened to drag him under – he'd lost count of how many times he'd tied with Jensen in the past twenty-four hours, but it was enough that he felt like he'd pass out if he even tried to move a limb.

Once the doctor had left the day before – and once Jared could bring himself to put away the shock and get up from the sofa – he'd carried Jensen back to the bedroom to let him sleep, called his mother and then fed himself a substantial meal. Returning to the bedroom he'd found Jensen already awake. Awake and naked and on his knees, waiting to be taken. His mate had been visibly wet and dripping, so Jared had wasted no time in throwing off his clothes and shoving his cock into the omega's hole, his knot swelling and tying them together as quick as ever. They'd then spent the rest of the afternoon, evening and night fucking until they were knotted together, then resting for a while, before going at it all over again.

It was exhausting, exhilarating and desperate, but more than anything it allowed Jared ample opportunities to gauge how Jensen's body was really holding up. He found – thankfully – that his mate didn't appear to be allergic to him, since he didn't worsen as Dr Morgan had suggested. However, Jensen didn't seem to improve either. After each time Jared filled Jensen's ass with his knot, he'd have anywhere between thirty minutes to an hour of lucidity and relief from his pain. Then, just as before, Jensen's condition would 'drop', and he'd relapse back into his initial state of sickness and fatigue.

As the hours wore on, Jared had just kept fucking him and filling him with the hope that he could push that hour into an hour and a half or maybe two, but no such luck. Jensen had already said that he appreciated his trying, and while the relapse was agonising for him he wanted Jared's contact more, to Jensen it was worth it to have his mate inside of him. In those hours Jared had come to accept the truth that he'd so far been missing, and despite his waning strength he continued to fuse their bodies, recognising that Jensen's need for him was greater than any pain he could endure. Even now they continued to chase an outcome they couldn't reach, if only for the sake of being skin-to-skin.

"Fuck, Jay," Jensen moaned, his ass clenching tightly around Jared's cock, muscles fluttering with delight. Jared gasped at the sensation, rocking against him involuntarily, another rush of come flowing into his mate's body. They'd been lying like this – Jensen's back to his front – for long, continuous hours, but he still couldn't get enough of the way Jensen's spine seemed to curl against him just right, the way he could feel Jensen's back expanding and flexing with each breath.

"You're so amazing," Jared panted, surprised that his mate was still awake and alert while he was the one struggling, "How are you so amazing?"

"Sparkling personality an' all that," Jensen drawled, grabbing onto his hand that had had been wrapped around Jensen's waist and threading their fingers together. "But if I'm honest, I'd say it was _you_ who made me amazing."

Jared snorted, clutching hard at his mate's hand. "Sap."

They lay in silence for a while, gently moving to-and-fro and sharing soft touches, but Jared couldn't keep quiet when Jensen suddenly started licking at his hands and wrists.

"What're you doing? Trying to bathe me with your tongue or something?"

"Nah," his mate mumbled, lips latching on to the underside of his wrist, "I'm searching for your taste on your skin – it's usually stronger than this."

"I think it's because of my wilting," Jared admitted, "The past couple of days your scent hasn't been as intense as it usually is, either."

The reminder of their current state had Jensen dropping his hand like a hot potato, instead curling in on himself protectively. His voice was soft as a whisper, and Jared could only hear him because of how close they were.

"Are we really going to do this?"

There was no doubt about what his mate was referring to. They'd had plenty of time in-between couplings to discuss what was to happen next. Dr Morgan was going to be back the next day for their answer and they had to be ready with their response. Jared had already asked what Jensen thought of the doctor's first option, but the omega had answered honestly that he didn't think he would outlive another bout of heat that intense, and Jared had to agree. Which meant they were left with the second option – neutralising their Were functions with human hormones.

"I don't know about you," Jared breathed, "But I get the feeling we don't have much choice. At the rate we're going, we don't have—"

"Yeah, I know," his mate cut in, more than aware of how close to death he was and had been, and that Jared wouldn't be far behind whatever happened. "It's just… It frightens me to think that I won't be able to smell you or taste you, or even _sense_ you like I normally can. And if the doctor's warnings are right, I might never be able to again."

Jared held Jensen tight against him. "It was just that, though – a warning. We might be lucky and it could work like a dream and be over in a few weeks. We just don't know."

Jensen choked out a laugh. "We've been together for less than a month and the singular thing that's gone right for us is that you found me before I died. So, please forgive me if I'm not holding out much hope right now."

"Fair enough," he sighed, not able to fault his mate's way of thinking. His own thoughts were of a similar nature but he was trying to do the better thing by staying positive, regardless of how futile it might seem. Jared didn’t know how he'd survive if things really did go wrong with the treatments – to have their Were instincts taken away was going to be hard enough, but to not get them back may as well be the death of both of them. Yet, if they didn't go forward with the treatments they'd be dead anyway.

"Jared?"

Jensen's voice was small and hesitant.

"Yeah, what is it? You know I'll do anything."

"I- I know. And I know you've barely got the strength to hold me right now, but can you knot me again? Just one more time?"

Jared nodded, not able to deny the omega, and reached down to take his softened cock in hand, the knot having already deflated and allowed the length to slip from Jensen's body. He palmed himself, the skin still sticky with come and his mate's fluids, and rubbed until he could feel the first stirrings of arousal in his abdomen. It took a moment, but his cock eventually began to harden up, and he angled his hips enough to the side to slide himself back into Jensen's hole. The entrance was wet and loose from their hours of fucking, but his mate's body still hugged him just right, his dick only stiffening further when Jensen's muscles clenched around him as tightly as ever.

"So good," Jensen moaned, pushing his face into the pillow and thrusting his ass back against Jared's hips.

Jared couldn't find the strength to reply, but let his body do the talking, winding his arms more firmly around Jensen's waist and helping himself out by pulling the omega backward with each forward shove of his hips. The movements were short and sharp, but enough for Jensen judging by the sounds he was making, and Jared groaned with effort when he felt his knot start to swell.

He was panting heavily by the time his fully sized knot locked itself inside his mate's hole, his chest heaving from the exertion. Jensen was writhing against his chest and Jared felt his head swim when Jensen's ass squeezed him like a fist, practically wrenching the come from his cock. He whimpered and tried to calm his mate's reaction with gentle touches, but he couldn't seem to ease Jensen's sudden restlessness, his mate's body asking more than Jared could give right then. Eventually the demands upon his own body couldn't hold out any longer, Jared slumping against the bed as the darkness grabbed a hold and dragged him under.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks for reading, and so much for my 'short sequel'!! This sucker's inflated to over 10k already, so I ask for your patience in getting the next part written and posted OTL


	2. The Right Kind of Medicine 2/2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jensen still hasn't recovered since Jared claimed him as his omega and saved his life. But now Jared is starting to slip as well, and nothing is going to plan.
> 
> Part Two of my sequel to [A Claim to Stake](http://hybridshade.livejournal.com/4108.html). A lot of this probably won't make sense without reading A Claim to Stake followed by the first part

**Title:** The Right Kind of Medicine 2/2  
 **Author:** [](http://hybridshade.livejournal.com/profile)[**hybridshade**](http://hybridshade.livejournal.com/)  
 **Pairing:** Jared/Jensen  
 **Rating:** nc17  
 **Warnings:** AU, ABO/Were- society, omega!Jensen, alpha!Jared, uber-angst, heat, self-lubrication, knotting, sick!Jensen, depressed!Jared, threats of impending death, vague dub-con, rimming, rough sex, pain, (body) transformation, minor medical speak.  
 **Word count:** 11.6k  
 **Summary:** Jensen still hasn't recovered since Jared claimed him as his omega and saved his life. But now Jared is starting to slip as well, and nothing is going to plan.  
 **A/N:** Part Two of my sequel to [A Claim to Stake](http://hybridshade.livejournal.com/4108.html). A lot of this probably won't make sense without reading A Claim to Stake followed by the first part.

When Jared woke he found himself staring into a familiar moss-green gaze, and managed a small smile once he was able to force the message through to his sluggish brain. Jensen smiled in reply, but his expression quickly reverted back to uneasy blankness, one of his hands lifting up to curl gently around the curve of Jared's neck.

It was only then that he started to recall what had happened – he and Jensen fucking over and over again until he'd eventually passed out – which prompted him to notice that his mate was dressed in pyjamas while he was still naked under the sheets, and that his mate's expression of blankness was more of a worried scowl than anything. He nearly jumped when his vision suddenly travelled further through the room and met with the equally worried looks of Seb, Misha _and_ Dr Morgan, who were all standing over by the bedroom door.

Turning back to Jensen, he whispered, "What's going on? Did something happen?"

"Yeah," Jensen huffed, shaking his head like Jared had asked the most ridiculous question he'd ever heard, " _You_ happened, dumbass."

Jared was about to sit himself up when he realised he could barely move his arms, let alone find the strength to push himself upright, and that was when Dr Morgan stepped forward.

"Gave us a little bit of a scare, kid," the man drawled, "You passed out yesterday afternoon and Jensen couldn't wake you up. I've assured him that you're no worse than he was."

"But-… what—?"

"You know there's a reason you and your mate have to get better at the same time, right?"

Jared nodded.

"Well, this is what happens when you _don't_ – Jensen goes from being the sicker one to the healthier one and you go in the opposite direction. You were doing what you were told to, which is great, but as it is your bodies are more in tune than your minds are right now. They were trying to compensate for Jensen still being so ill, exchanging energy while you were still tied together, but it went a little overboard."

It felt like his head was swimming through molasses, all his thought processes were just moving so slow, but Jared eventually picked up on what the doctor was trying to say, that both Jensen's and his body had taken it upon themselves to do a bit of a 'swapsies'.

"What now?" he croaked.

Jensen grabbed a hold of his hand and squeezed. "I told him what we decided. He said it'd be best if we started straight away."

After a deep exhalation, Jared nodded his consent, and tried not to think too hard about things as the doctor got to work.

=////=

Twenty-four hours in and Jared couldn't say he felt much different. He still fell asleep unintentionally and without warning, and his limbs still felt as though they were being held down with piles of bricks, but at least he'd been able to eat something without throwing it back up as Jensen had been doing the past couple of weeks.

Jensen, on the other hand, seemed to have adopted Jared's previous state – lumbering about aimlessly and trying to engage with Sebastian and Misha but hurriedly escaping back to the bedroom after being told he was moping too much. Jared had to admit he didn't mind – and likely his mate had felt the same way when he'd been in the same position – since it meant they were able to lie in bed together for the majority of the day, holding hands and sharing comforting touches and dreaming about all the athletic sex they'd have once they were healthy.

He knew he had to be patient. It was going to take time not only for their treatments to start working, but also for their bodies to readjust, and then readjust a second time once the treatments were stopped. Weeks and months. It wasn't going to be a short term thing. Misha had graciously offered to contact his boss and landlord and friends and even his _mother_ to let them know what was going on, so thankfully that was one less thing for him to angst over.

Naturally it was Jensen he worried about most of all. It was good to see his mate able to get up and walk around without much trouble, even if only for a short while. His mind sometimes overlooked the fact that while Jensen had certainly been in a bad enough state all of the two-and-a-half weeks they'd known each other, the omega had endured an additional near-two weeks of torment before that when he'd started slipping into the torture that was his last heat. Jared had tried asking about it but Jensen only said that his memories were fuzzy and he didn't remember much. He accepted that, even if he sensed that his mate was holding back on him, but Jared couldn't get over how strong and resilient the other man was, he only hoped he could show Jensen that he was even half as strong. He might have been an alpha, but Jared had caught on pretty quick that realistically he was the one in complete deference to his omega mate.

=////=

It took another ten days for the changes to manifest completely. Ten days of injections and high protein meals and more sleep than Jared could ever remember having before.

What he was going to have to deal with in terms of 'side effects' finally cemented itself for Jared the morning he woke up and pulled Jensen toward him, burying his nose in his mate's neck… only to find not a single trace of his luscious scent. Not a whiff of it in the air, nor a bead of it on his skin. Jared moaned out his sorrow, the sound not unlike a wolf's howl, and Jensen blinked awake in his arms, fingers digging into his chest in alarm.

"Jared, what-?" Jensen stopped himself, taking a moment to process while he sniffed at the air. "Oh… Oh, _fuck_." He leaned in to lick at his favourite point on Jared's collarbone. "No no no no no…"

Jared held his mate tightly as they both vocalised their distress, warm wet drops eventually dripping onto his chest.

"I- I know we were told what to expect but… I just thought… maybe—"

"I know, Jen," Jared soothed, "When you're so used to something it's hard to imagine being without it. It feels like losing a limb."

Jensen let go a grating laugh. "Yeah, it's just like that. I don't know how humans do it. Not being able to _sense_ you… it's like some kind of physical pain that I can't describe."

"We just have to remember that it's only temporary, right?" Jared wasn't sure whether he was trying to convince Jensen or himself more. "We've got help. We'll get through this. You and me."

Jensen sniffed and rubbed his eyes. "Sometimes I don't know whether to punch you or kiss you."

"I'd prefer the latter if it's alright with you."

With a half-hearted smirk, Jensen leaned in close and nipped at Jared's bottom lip, before angling his face with one hand and capturing his mouth in a chaste kiss. Their play stayed on the surface at first, innumerable nips and pecks that spilled out onto their faces and necks and behind their ears, until Jared couldn't take it anymore and grabbed his mate by the chin, sliding his tongue inside. Jensen joined in eagerly, twirling his tongue around and searching out Jared's mouth like he'd never tasted him before. His mate moaned just once before he pulled away, and despite their lack of connection, Jared knew they were both thinking the same thing.

"You don't even taste the same."

Jensen sounded like he wasn't far off crying again, and Jared felt that he was in a similar situation.

"I don't know how to deal with this. I don't know if I can—"

"You _can_ and you _will_ ," Jared insisted, placing one more kiss to his mate's lips. "I can't lose you, y'know?"

"And yet somehow I feel like I should be in mourning for you. And myself, even."

Jared pressed their foreheads together so they were breathing the same air – air that was lacking in a certain sweetness he was so familiar with. He knew exactly how Jensen was feeling. How could he not? For all that he could see his mate right there in front of him, it still felt all wrong. Different smell and taste and touch, the sound of his voice, the tang of his morning breath, the texture of his skin – he decided even Jensen's colouring looked amiss somehow. Were his eyes really that shade of green?

Suddenly, he was in bed with a stranger. They were going to have to 'learn' each other all over again. The hard way. The human way. Being Weres allowed them to instinctually know certain things about each other, particular traits or habits or the need for food or rest or sex. Misha had said that occasionally alpha-omega pairs developed a way of communicating without words – just a brief look or touch and they'd know what the other was thinking. While they weren't quite at that stage, Jared still missed the intuitive 'link' he normally shared with Jensen, the little red thread that connected them and let them know where the other was and glimpse how they were feeling or if they were in need of their mate. Without that thread he felt lost and adrift, and Jared wondered if he'd ever be able to let go of Jensen, if he'd manage to stay sane if they were parted even for a few minutes.

A long moment of silence and stillness passed before they decided to get on with things. They both got up from the bed without trouble, showering together out of habit. They held hands but stayed quiet as they wandered out to the kitchen where Seb and Misha were making breakfast, and both men looked up at them when they stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, their faces going simultaneously pale with shock.

"Lord Almighty," Sebastian said, clearly not quite believing what he was seeing or smelling, "I knew it was going to inhibit your Were side but I didn't think…"

"It's gone completely," Misha added, wide-eyed and shaking his head with disbelief.

Jared shared a look with his mate, squeezing his hand when all he got in return was a hollow stare.

"Um, here," Misha piped up, placing two bowls down on the kitchen bench, "We made porridge again. I was going to bring it in, but since you're here…"

Mumbling a 'thanks', Jared tugged Jensen forward to the stools tucked under the bench and they sat themselves down. He let Jensen's hand go so the omega could feed himself, but draped his arm over his shoulders so they were always in contact. Misha pat them both on the back as they began to eat, before heading off to work, and Sebastian stood behind them for a while, one hand winding around each of their waists.

"You know Meesh and I will do anything necessary for you two, and that stands now more than ever," the blonde stated, the unease clear in his voice, "I must suggest, though, that neither of you leave the apartment. I know you must be going stir-crazy by now, but with both of you devoid of your usual instincts, and the general population out there who'll think you're human, I urge you not to go anywhere without me or Misha or the doctor or, yes, even Chad. Is that alright?"

Jensen nodded, and Seb, too, pat them encouragingly before collecting his things and heading out the front door, leaving the two of them in silence, heads bowed, spoons half-submerged in porridge.

=////=

Things got more difficult a few nights later. Both of them had woken in the late morning feeling more buoyant and less fatigued than they had in weeks. They spent the day more-or-less as they had been – watching movies, playing cards, doing crunches and push-ups on the living room floor – and then had followed Misha and Seb's example in going to bed early, for lack of anything better to do.

Jensen had initiated it. They were still slightly awkward when it came to kissing or any kind of intimacy, despite their ever present need to be touching one another, but once they were hidden away under the covers Jensen had made a point of sliding his hand around Jared's waist, and dipping his fingers below the elastic of his pyjama pants, running his thumb along the ridge of Jared's hip bone.

He'd gasped at first, watching his mate's face through the dim light of the room. He could see the hesitation there, could see the way Jensen was biting uncertainly at his bottom lip, and immediately hated the fact that they were mated and yet could barely bring themselves to touch each other's bodies this way. Of course there were extenuating circumstances, but they _were_ still mates, and they shouldn't have been allowing said circumstances hold them back from taking what was rightfully theirs.

"Keep going," Jared urged, pressing Jensen's hand down further until it brushed the top of his flaccid dick, the flesh twitching and urgently beginning to harden the moment Jensen wrapped his palm around it.

"This still feel good?" Jensen rasped against his lips, his hand slowly and steadily jacking his cock to full hardness. Jared could feel the stirrings of his mate's cock, too, where Jensen's hips were bumping up along his thigh.

"Feels different, but still good," he confessed, urging Jensen to stop a moment so they could remove their clothes.

Coming back together, fully naked, was a surprising but pleasurable sensation. It wasn't quite as overwhelming or 'electric' as he was used to, but having Jensen's erect cock rubbing up against his own was still a gratifying experience. It felt a little less hot and a little more dry than normal, but when he wrapped a hand around both Jensen and himself and stroked the two lengths together, he could scarcely bring himself to stop.

"Wait, Jay," Jensen panted, his plea at odds with the frantic rocking of his hips, "Want you inside me."

That had Jared dropping his hand away immediately, pulling Jensen more firmly against his chest. Certainly he wanted to be with Jensen like that any chance he could, but their treatments made them all but human for the time being, he wouldn't just be able to shove his cock inside his mate like usual, there would be little pleasure in that for either of them. There would have to be lube and preparation and patience.

"Are you sure?" he asked, pressing kisses down the side of his mate's throat, "We don't have to do that, you know? You might just want it out of habit, but with our bodies like this…"

"I- I don't-" Jensen stuttered, "What else would we do?"

Pausing in confusion, it suddenly occurred to Jared that Jensen had probably never had sex any other way. He supposed it wasn't unreasonable, considering that as an omega he was hardwired to want to be penetrated and had spent the majority of his life only among the Weres in the Districts, only being treated like the omega he was. But Jared had experience with Weres and humans alike, and there were so many things he could teach his mate if he wanted to learn – it made his chest flutter with anticipation for the first time since the treatments had started.

"Well, we could switch? As in, you could fuck me instead?"

Jensen gaped, his eyes wide with alarm. "But- but you're an alpha! Why would you even—?"

"Jen, it's okay," he soothed, "I've… I've spent a lot of time outside of the Districts and I've, um, been with humans before."

"…Really? And it was… good?"

Jared held back a smile. So far they hadn't gotten around to talking about past relationships – he supposed most alphas didn't like bringing up such a topic – but Jared liked to know, he'd always liked enjoying new and different experiences with his partners. "Yeah. Humans are actually a lot more adventurous than us for the most part; they go with their head or their dicks more than their instincts. They like to fuck, and get fucked, and use their mouths and their hands and toys. As long as it feels good, then anything goes."

"That's… hard to imagine."

"I could try something, then? If you don't like it just say so."

"Um… okay, I guess?"

After pressing a reassuring kiss to Jensen's temple, Jared kicked the sheets out of the way and shuffled down the bed, running his hands down the smooth line of his mate's thighs. He tried to ease Jensen into things by first kissing and licking his way across the omega's hips and the crease where his legs met his body, nosing teasingly at his balls. Above him Jensen was already starting to tremble with need, and Jared smiled as he turned his attention to the half-hard dick nudging against his cheek.

"Jay… p-please, more," Jensen whimpered. His voice was shaky at best.

Wetting his lips, Jared placed open-mouthed kisses up the length of his mate's arousal, slurping greedily at the liquid pearling at the tip. Jensen let go a keening moan, and Jared had to put both hands on his hips to hold him still. Only then did he take Jensen's cock into his mouth, sucking lightly on the head before dipping down to engulf the rest of the fully-hardened shaft. Jared held the length in his mouth for several seconds, forcing himself to swallow and letting the convulsion of his throat squeeze Jensen tight.

"Fuck, Jay, _please_."

Jared withdrew with a wet 'pop'. "Tell me what you want, Jen. Anything at all."

"I- I don't know. Just… more."

Getting to his knees, Jared reached over to the bedside table, retrieving a bottle of lube he'd stashed there the week before.

"What's that?"

Jared held the bottle up between his fingers so Jensen could see. "It's lube. The Doc gave it to me last week in case we… well, wanted to do _this_."

Jensen bit his lip. "Oh."

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle. Just tell me if you want me to stop."

Settling back on his knees, Jared pushed Jensen's legs up to his chest, dropping down so he was breathing over the furled skin of his mate's entrance. Gone was the sweet, leaking fluid he was used to seeing, gone was the open and gaping hole that would let him slide right in, hugging his knot just perfectly. Moving in, Jared swirled his tongue around the puckered flesh, Jensen tensing under the unfamiliar attention. He licked copiously at his mate's entrance, waiting until Jensen finally relaxed enough for him to slip his tongue just inside, gently prying open the muscle as if it were the first time.

Jared soon sat back and took the lube bottle in hand, pouring an ample amount over his fingers. He rubbed his fingertips over the clenching muscle of Jensen's hole before pushing one, then two digits inside, circling and scissoring in order to stretch him open.

"You… you're gonna fuck me, yeah? Jay?"

Jensen's voice was breathy with arousal, but Jared could hear the hesitation lingering beneath.

"Yeah, gonna fuck you. But it might hurt a little at first so you need to take easy breaths, alright? Just relax."

Withdrawing his fingers, Jared tipped more lube over his own cock, using his hand to smooth it over the whole length. The hormones had made him just slightly smaller – you couldn't really tell by sight, but Jared knew his body well enough that he noticed – and there was a ridge of wrinkled flesh where his knot would usually form, but now it looked just like any human cock might.

Jared shifted forward on his knees and lined himself up with Jensen's hole, slowly but steadily pushing forward until he was buried to the hilt. He pulled his mate firmly into the cradle of his hips and leant down over the top of his body so he could pull the omega in for a kiss.

"Does it hurt?"

Jensen swallowed before shaking his head. "Not a lot."

"But?" Jared could tell there was a 'but', though he wasn't surprised. Jensen was clenching down on his dick like a vise, and not in a comfortable way – he was tight, and nervous as hell.

"It's just…" Jensen turned his head away, "I don't know."

"Do you want me to keep going?"

His mate nodded, and Jared understood. It was _different_. A completely unfamiliar sensation, despite all the times he'd been fucked before. Jared would have felt the same way but for having been with humans before. He remembered the first time he'd fucked around with a beta male after having been with a human male, the shock he'd felt over the vast differences in their bodies and reactions. Now he was going the opposite direction, from Were back to human, and perhaps he wouldn't have enjoyed it so much but for the fact that Jensen was his mate.

Gradually he built up a stable rhythm, thrusting deep into Jensen's ass. His mate's cock had flagged somewhat, so Jared balanced himself on one arm and reached down with the other, taking Jensen in hand and stroking until he was once again hard and throbbing.

It wasn't long before Jensen pulsed in his fist and milky white threads of come were suddenly spilling over Jared's hand. He groaned when Jensen clamped down on his cock in response, the muscles of his channel dragging Jared to the edge and pulling his climax from him quickly and without warning. He wiped his hand off on the sheets and took his mate in his arms, holding him tightly even as their breaths were still steadying back to normal.

"Jen?" he whispered, running a hand through the short hair on the back of Jensen's head. He didn't need their 'link' to know that the omega wasn't totally okay. He knew Jensen was hurt in some way, he just hoped the damage wasn't the irreparable sort.

"It's… I'm okay, but I… I don't know if I want to do that again."

"We don't have to. We only do what we want to, alright?" Jared pressed a kiss to the point where Jensen's jaw met his ear. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, just…" the omega swallowed thickly and Jared could feel it where he was lying against his chest, "You're still in me, and you're even half-hard still, but… I just feel empty."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Jensen said, his demeanour fading by the moment, "It's this whole _thing_. I feel like it's taken everything from us. Like there's nothing left."

"Don't say that," Jared objected, his fingers digging into the flesh of Jensen's back, "We're still here and we'll work it out. You wouldn't leave me, would you?"

Jared pulled back enough to see the tear-filled sheen of his mate's eyes, glistening in the half-light of the room.

"I wouldn't, Jay. How would I ever bear it?"

Jared nodded in acceptance. He wondered to himself, 'how would _I_ '?

=////=

They weren't intimate again after that one time. Jared figured it was for the best, since it took Jensen days to get over his blackened mood. They still held each other while they slept though, and still showered together, often 'helping each other out' with their morning erections, so Jared decided that that was enough for him, he wouldn't want for more.

The doctor still stopped by every now and again, just to check they were managing and that they weren't having any trouble with the hormone injections. Jared wondered if he should say anything to him about their not having sex, but decided that Dr Morgan would have mentioned it if it were important – he was about as straight forward a doctor as Jared had ever come across – and with their lack of connection and muted libidos, Jared supposed it made sense that sex between he and Jensen wasn't a necessity at that stage.

Three more months passed like this, with the ongoing treatment, strict diet and semi-confinement to the apartment. They avoided cabin fever by formulating a routine of exercise, household chores and other domestic things. Misha and Seb said they'd never seen a house so clean, nor had they ever eaten so well now that they had two people to start the dinner while they were still finishing up at work. Their two hosts – along with Chad – took days off whenever they could manage, and helped escort Jared and Jensen out of D9 and back into human society, taking them to the movies or sports events – anything to give them 'some excitement', as Misha put it.

Dr Morgan even took them out once, introducing them to another alpha-omega pair who'd had health difficulties due to the omega's last heat, which had come on even though they'd been mated already, thinking that talking to them might assuage some of their worries. Jared and Jensen had been unsure about the whole thing – and rightly so – since the other couple had simply stared at their clasped hands, and sniffed-out their lack of Were scent before both bursting into inconsolable tears. The doctor had ended the meeting immediately with endless apologies, and it had taken both Jensen and Jared several days to recover from the troubling experience, barely letting go of each other long enough to eat or bathe properly.

Besides that one instance, they established a modicum of contentment by sticking to their routine, eating and sleeping when Misha and Seb did, and holding hands or touching at every possible moment. The contact was as close as they could get to their severed alpha-omega link, so they utilised it to the extreme, the one and only substitute at their disposal. They both had their 'down' days, although Jared couldn't really say he thought there were any days where they were especially 'up'. He knew what depression was, and it was his opinion that if he and Jensen weren't suffering from it, then they were pretty damn close. He never brought it up however, hoping that once things came to an end, they'd be back to normal in all respects.

It carried on until one afternoon when Dr Morgan called, saying he had the results of their recent blood test and that something had finally changed – they were ready to start coming off the treatments, and he'd drop in the next day with their lesser-dose hormones. Things were going to start changing yet again.

=////=

"What do you think's going to happen?" Jensen whispered from under cover of darkness, curled up in the sheets of their bed.

"Don't know," Jared answered honestly. There were too many variables for them to know anything precisely. The doctor had started them on a new regimen of treatments that would gradually decrease over the next six weeks until it worked its way out of their system. They were currently on day three – it was still too soon to tell how things would resolve. If at all.

"But things have gone okay so far, haven't they?" Jared added, "It's been less than four months – it could've taken a lot longer."

"I guess so… There's just so many things that could still go wrong. The doc said that this was the tricky part."

Jared let go of where his hands were clutching at Jensen's waist, threading their fingers together instead. "Call me a sap if you like, but we've just gotta keep holding on. Remember the doc also said that we wouldn't start feeling the change until at least a week in, probably two."

His mate scoffed. "You're so level headed, Jay. Sometimes I just wanna shoot you down so bad…"

"Whatever you gotta do, man."

Jensen nudged him playfully, but then they lapsed into silence. As the quiet stretched out, Jared thought his mate had fallen asleep until he suddenly spoke up again.

"If I don't go back to how I was – if I still smell different, or taste different or something – will you still want me?"

"There's no doubt in my mind," Jared said without hesitation.

"But what if I, like, don't get wet anymore? Or what if—"

"And what if my knot never comes back?" Jared interrupted, "In the shower that day, you noticed that I'd gotten smaller too, remember? What if I can't satisfy you anymore?"

"That won't happen," Jensen hissed, "I know it won't."

After their failed attempt at fucking that day when they'd both lost their scent, Jared had never stopped fretting over whether they might never share their bodies like that again. Sure they touched each other in the shower, sometimes got each other off with their hands, but it wasn't without an air of detachment – sadly there was never a feeling of actual intimacy behind it. But. If Jensen was as committed as he was regardless of how things turned out, maybe there was hope yet.

"Are you absolutely sure? Not matter what?"

"Sure as sure. As long as our link comes back I don't care about anything else."

While there was a chance their link might not return, Dr Morgan had told them that if anything were to return then that was it. The only reason it wouldn't, would be if one or both of their bodies made absolutely no changes towards becoming a normal Were again, and apparently the doctor was convinced that wouldn't happen. Jared mentally crossed his fingers. "Well I guess you're gonna be stuck with me."

Jensen squeezed his hands, their fingers still entwined. "There's no alpha I'd rather be stuck with."

"Now who's the sap?"

With a snort of laughter, Jensen bowed his head in embarrassment, tucking his head under Jared's chin. "Touché. But… I do have a confession I want to make. We haven't really gotten around to talking about this… Or, not really. I just…"

"Jen, what is it?" Jared bit his lip nervously. He couldn't imagine what the omega could possibly say that would change his perception of the other man, yet Jensen's hesitation made him nervous.

"When I was talking with Dr Morgan the other day while you were making lunch? Some things came up that… might be relevant. I didn't want to tell you in case you thought… never mind." Jensen took a breath to calm himself. "So, firstly, when I was younger I was late getting my first heat. I hated being left behind so I rebelled in a big way, ran with the wrong crowd, you know how it goes… As soon as I did have my first one I tried to catch up for the years I'd lost by fucking around with every alpha that was willing. I had two friends – one omega and one female beta – of similar age that slept around as much as I did, and at some point we got our hands on some heat inducers – they were new at the time, so it wasn't monitored who was buying them and how much. It was easy pickings. We would go to parties in the larger Districts and get trashed and get fucked for as long as we could stand it."

"Jen—"

"Just lemme finish, please," Jensen said vacantly, his voice muffled against Jared's shoulder, "This went on for a long time. But eventually there was an alpha who took a keener interest in me. We dated, if you wanna call it that, but it wasn't exclusive. My heats were always really intense so when they came along he'd let me go nuts with whoever I wanted, sometimes he'd even bring over his friends to keep me… _occupied_. It wasn't til I was about twenty-three, maybe twenty-four that I realised how bad he was using me – taking money from everyone that used my body. Finding that out… it really messed me up. I got away from him quick as I could, and started taking suppressants so I wouldn't have to fuck anyone, period."

Jared kept quiet but squeezed his mate's hand where it was trapped between their bodies.

"Since starting the suppressants I hadn't been with anyone since. I don't know if you know this, but an omega going years without being with an alpha is dangerous. So the abuse of the inducers followed by the long term suppressants is more than likely what sent me into my last heat two years too early. It's quite possible my body's burnt out and I may not go into heat again once this is over – or so thinks Dr Morgan."

"Well," Jared sighed, taking a moment to process, "He seems to know what he's talking about… What was the second thing, though?"

"The second?"

"You started your story with a 'firstly', so I assumed there was a second something…?"

Jensen exhaled heavily against Jared's chest, warm air blowing across his collarbone. "How do you pick up on these things, goddamn… You're right, though. There's a second thing. I wanted you to know that I lied… You asked me before if I remembered what happened with my last heat and I said I didn't. But that's… not entirely true. A lot of it _is_ hazy like I said, but I definitely remember the war going on inside me – the aching pain clashing against the crazy wave of pleasure I'd get every time I got another cock shoved in me. Thinking about it now almost makes me sick, but at the time it was almost blissful. I felt drunk with it. Having all their hands on me, their knots stretching me out…"

Jared felt his mate shiver against him, though whether it was in arousal or revulsion he couldn't tell. He had to bite down on the need to make known his rage – hearing Jensen talk about feeling pleasure from all those alphas who'd taken advantage of him made him want to growl, even despite his current lack of Were instinct – but he reigned himself in, trying to focus on the fact that Jensen was pouring his heart out. Jared disentangled their fingers and stretched his arms out, wrapping them around his mate's waist, pulling them chest-to-chest. Both of them had filled out considerably over the past months, and Jared enjoyed the feeling of hard muscle against hard muscle, rather than the skin and bones that they had been not too long ago.

"Now you've only got little ol' me to contend with. Think you can cope?"

Jensen suddenly barked a laugh. "You're hardly what I'd call little. But little ol' you will do just fine, I think."

=////=

The days wore on, turned into weeks, and Jared started to worry that neither of them was making any noticeable progress. If either he or Jensen had begun regaining their Were traits, then they certainly weren't aware of it. The tension between them grew – they still clung to each other through the day and night, but the touches were more desperate than ever.

It wasn't until a whole three weeks had passed that anything out of the ordinary occurred. Jared was woken in the dead of night by Jensen tugging on his pyjama sleeve, his whispers of 'Jared, Jared, wake up' somewhere between distressed and ecstatic. He'd barely blinked open his eyes before his mate was inching up against his side, pressing his body along Jared's from chest to ankle. That definitely had Jared's mind waking up in a hurry.

"What's the mat—?"

"Fuck, Jared, just—"

Jensen grabbed his hand and wrenched it upward with surprising strength, startling them both into silence. He moved Jared's hand further down under the covers, pushing his t-shirt out of the way and guiding his fingers to slip under the waistband of his pants and over the mound of his ass. Jared took the hint and moved the rest of the way on his own; rolling Jensen further into his body so he could reach more easily, skimming his fingertips down the crack of his mate's backside until he met the furled muscle of his entrance.

At first he wasn't sure what he was meant to be feeling, thinking that Jensen must have woken from a certain kind of dream and simply wanted to be touched, but then his hand pressed down just a little further and everything became clear. No longer was his ass pinched tight like a human's, but the ring of his mate's entrance was loose and pliable like an aroused omega's was supposed to be. Jared slipped two fingers easily inside and Jensen keened, his body jerking suddenly before falling lax again. He moved the digits around gently, adding a third and marvelling at the way the pillowy-soft flesh opened around them like an invitation for more.

"Feel good?" he whispered under his breath.

Jensen didn't answer, but hummed his agreement, his body shivering with sensation. Jared urged his fingers in deeper, sliding around the inner walls of the channel, his mate attempting to clench around him but not quite managing it, as if the muscles were out of practice and not responding properly. Pushing the omega over onto his back, Jared got to his knees and settled down in between – it was only then he realised that there was no feeling of slick clinging to his fingers, nor leaking from Jensen's hole. He still wasn't getting wet, though Jared did notice there was a dampness present, it wasn't quite the dry warmth of a human's body.

He glanced up to where his mate's face was hidden by the dark. "Do you want me to—?"

" _Please._ "

Leaning back down, Jared aimed his tongue to where his fingers rested on the edge of Jensen's entrance, licking along the rim before digging his way inside, swirling his tongue in deep. His mate choked on a moan, his legs instinctively opening wider, and Jared smoothed one hand up the back of Jensen's thigh, sliding over to fondle his balls which were already drawn up tight.

Jared attacked in earnest, flicking his tongue rhythmically back and forth, soon adding his fingers into the mix to stretch Jensen out even looser. His mate was bearing down against him, trying to suck Jared in, and after so long without any such contact, it didn't take long for Jensen to reach his climax, his whole body pulling taught before falling boneless back to the mattress.

"Jared… Jared, I—"

"Just shh, Jen. Just sleep."

Jared slid back up the bed and held his mate, ignoring the knot-less throbbing between his own legs. Jensen was out like a light, and Jared merely laid there unmoving until he eventually calmed enough to sleep.

Come morning his mate was closed up again, as if nothing had happened. Jensen was mildly distraught about it all, but thankfully Misha was there to talk sense into him, assuring him that it wasn't likely everything would happen at once anyway. After an hour of tensed-up pacing Jensen was able to compose himself and the day progressed as normal – Misha went to work, Jared and Jensen carried on with their routine, and all was quiet.

The next change came two days later when Jensen fell asleep on the couch in the middle of the day – something he hadn't done in months. Jared let him doze for a while before he started to worry, and in placing his hand on Jensen's shoulder with the intention of shaking him awake, Jared found his mate's skin to be burning with fever.

Dr Morgan called around on his way home after Jared called him, frantic with worry, but the older man merely told him to keep an eye on things. Apparently he wasn't concerned about Jensen's condition, it was just his body adjusting to the reduction in treatments and would fix itself in a few days. Jared had to accept that explanation, but it didn't stop him hovering anxiously all the while, Jensen tossing and turning as he slept on through the fever. His mate's lack of wakefulness kept Jared on edge and he could barely bring himself to eat or sleep – Misha and Seb both threatened more than once to tie him down and force-feed him with a plunger, and then dose him with sleeping pills until he was unconscious. He almost wished they'd make good on their threats.

Jensen returned to the waking world after two days, still woozy, but perfectly coherent all the same. Jared was almost sick with relief, but it didn't last long. By the next morning his mate was tossing and turning yet again, though this time he was mostly conscious, his body wracked with bone-deep aches and stabbing pains rather than the blessed delirium of fever. Jensen kept such a grip on his hands Jared thought his bones might break, and while he tried to find out what the omega needed from him, Jensen could barely get a word past the wounded groans that kept pouring from his throat.

Once more Dr Morgan appeared on their doorstep, this time with not-so-positive news.

"You still haven't felt any change?"

Jared shook his head. "Not a thing. And not being able to connect with Jen… it's killing me right now. I feel useless."

"Well, kid," the man drawled, "I reckon you just about hit the nail on the head, 'cause that _is_ what's affecting your omega at the moment. With you not completing the alpha-omega bond while Jensen's already well on his way to recovery, his body is realising that something's missing, and he's heading into widow territory."

Jared did a double take. "Wha- he's _what?_ "

"It means that Jensen's Were-side has been coming back online for longer than you were aware, and his body's had time enough to recognise that his mate's link isn't where it should be. If it goes on much longer like this he'll be going into all-out bereavement mode, meaning it'll be as if you had died and the connection had been permanently severed. His soul can't sense you, so it's mourning."

"But that—"

"Means he might die, yes."

Jared felt his whole being go cold and shut down. His vision went grey and it seemed as if his heart had stopped mid-beat. All he wanted was his mate. Why were they being punished so relentlessly?

"I'm killing him," he muttered under his breath, the realisation materialising even as he spoke the words, "Ever since I first touched him I've done nothing but push him closer to death."

The doctor placed a hand on his shoulder in attempt to comfort him, not that it did much good.

"I'm real sorry Jared. You guys have been about the unluckiest perfect match I've ever seen. I can give Jensen something to make him sleep but—"

"There's nothing else you can do?" Jared interrupted, the words feeling like tar on his tongue.

"Not this time. You two tried things physically, then we tried changing things chemically with the treatments, and I believe we did everything possible in that regard. Putting Jensen back on them would take too long and probably only mess him up more." The doctor sighed heavily. "This is soul-deep, kiddo. It's in your bones this time. Unless you can find some way to kick-start _yourself_ … then I just don't know."

Jared found himself drowning slowly in a well of numbness, the rest of the world floating by him in a muted haze.

While he wasn't looking, the four-week mark of their reduced treatments passed. Jensen was on his second day of being out of his mind with pain and distress, and Jared was still as un-Were as he had been four weeks ago.

=////=

Sebastian had forbidden him from leaving the apartment – no doubt concerned about his state of mind – but Jared decided his need for a moment of reprieve won out, he couldn't stay in that place a moment longer.

Thus Jared had waited for a moment when no one was looking and snuck out.

It was late afternoon and there were people milling about as expected, but not enough to call it crowded. Jared ambled along with no direction in mind, sensing the eyes of other Weres looking at him, likely trying to figure out why he had the general appearance of an alpha, yet didn't even smell like a Were. Not that it was uncommon for a human to be seen inside the Districts, but it was unwritten law that in D9 they were to be accompanied by a Were, else they were considered suspicious. Jared didn't care about the attention though, just kept his head down and kept walking.

All the voices of the past forty-eight hours kept surging through his head like they were a tape on continuous replay. Everyone's advice and pity and well wishes and needless optimism and whatever the fuck else they had to say. It was emotionally draining more than anything. Dr Morgan had tried to explain that such a thing as Jensen's current state couldn't possibly have been foreseen, since a reaction so intense only happened to couples with an exceptionally strong bond – science said that Jared and Jensen really hadn't known each other for long enough. Yet here they were – an omega still on the verge of death and an alpha not all that far behind. Yes, the doctor apparently had a lot of things to say.

Of course, Misha had needed to have his shot as well. He'd tried to rile Jared up, get him angry, thinking that maybe he could coax his Were side into re-existence. But it was the other omega's most calmly spoken words that had angered Jared the most. Misha – upon realising that his 'anger' approach probably wasn't going to work – turned to Jared's mental state, asking probing questions with the underlying notion that Jared was either doing something wrong or somehow preventing his own body's changes. Intentionally.

_Jared, if there's something you're holding back… This is your last chance…_

Jared had nearly punched the guy's lights out. But Misha was usually smarter than all that, so he'd chalked it up to all the highly-charged emotions floating around the apartment, and luckily he'd growled and stalked off before he'd done something stupid to the omega.

The words haunted him now, though. Jared couldn't help but wonder if maybe there _was_ something he was doing wrong, if maybe his inner fears were somehow jamming the signal that would tell his body to start reverting back to being a Were. If only he _knew_. Perhaps he should have been trying harder – not that he had any idea what it was he should be trying harder to do – or maybe he should have been asking more questions of the doctor or Sebastian, figuring out if he was just bad at being an alpha, or if growing up under D2 standards had somehow sold him short on the whole 'how to be a good alpha' thing. It wouldn't be the first time they'd steered him wrong.

Jared looked up when he suddenly came to an open area and it took him a moment to realise it was the town square. Where he'd first seen Jensen all those months ago.

There was a reasonably-sized crowd gathered, and plenty of noise and cheering to go with it. It wasn't until he moved around the side and got a little closer to the stage that he recognised the day's spectacle as another Omega Rally. The omega was on all fours facing the crowd, one alpha brutally fucking him from behind while a string of hypnotised-looking alphas were lined up in the back, hard cocks in hand while they waited their turn. He looked older than Jensen, this omega, and considerably smaller in size, though he still seemed healthy physically, so clearly he hadn't been up there too long. He was covered in splatters of come, over his legs and back and face, but he was panting for more, and Jared could hear the omega moan when another alpha suddenly appeared, forcefully shoving his dick down his throat.

It still made him cringe a little to see such a ruthless act so publicly, but he'd come to accept things enough now that he could also see the appeal of it, the allure of an omega begging so desperately that he couldn't care less who was watching. After all, he'd seen something in Jensen, hadn't he? Jared hadn't known at first that the niggling pull he'd felt in his gut had meant Jensen was his mate, but as soon as he'd stepped on that stage he'd realised something was different, and after that he'd been so _gone_ he barely even remembered the act but for the need of getting his cock so deep inside…

Jared was startled out of his thoughts when a great cheer went up, and he looked up to see the alpha withdrawing himself from the omega's ass, strings of come still clinging to the man's cock. Without warning someone bumped into him from behind and Jared had to take a couple of steps forward to rebalance himself, landing him in the outer edge of the betting crowd. 

The smell hit him like a freight train, the cloying scent of alpha spice, mixed with the sugar-sweetness of omega in heat; overwhelming him and making his head spin like he'd just inhaled some human street drug. Jared hadn't smelled Jensen's scent for nearly four weeks, and the sudden yearning for it nearly brought him to his knees. It made his skin itch and there was a hollow roiling in his chest that made him feel like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

Another loud cheer rose up and Jared tried to bring his hands up to cover his ears, the noise piercing his head and throbbing in the space behind his eyes. Except that his hands didn't seem to want to move. He looked down to find them shaking by his sides, and the motion made his view of the ground swoop up to meet him. He thought he heard someone say 'hey man, are you alright?' even amongst all the surrounding commotion, but it sounded far away so he figured it couldn't have been directed at himself. 

As it went, that was the last thing he heard before the world turned black, his legs finally giving out beneath him.

 

=////=

Jared had no idea how long it was before he came back to himself. But when he did, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't where he had been – gone were the roaring sounds and the overpowering smells, gone were the dozens of alphas standing around encroaching on his personal space. Wherever he was, it was quiet, empty and dark. He was lying on something soft – sheets, a _bed_. There was a vaguely familiar smell about it, but he couldn't think of it right away.

Rather, the act of thinking just made him hurt. And _goddamn_ , but he hurt all over. From the roots of his hair to the tips of his toes, everything ached like a motherfucker. His skin felt like it was pulled too tight over his bones, and it itched like mad. Each shallow breath he took made his chest burn, and his stomach felt as though someone had wrapped their hand around it and squeezed. Fucking hell, he'd never in his life felt so _hungry_. Even his dick – which was somehow half-hard between his legs – ached as if someone had taken a fist to it and bruised it up good. Fuck, but it _hurt_.

Jared inhaled deeply to try and breathe through the pain and the sudden rush of cool air made his throat tickle and he coughed. Of course, once he started he couldn't seem to stop, and next thing the door of whatever room he was in was flung open and two pairs of feet tramped inside, moving up beside the bed.

"Here, take a sip."

A cup was pushed into his hand and Jared was able to swallow down a mouthful of water, easing his coughing bout enough that he could get a proper lungful of air in. 

"If you hadn't done it to yourself, I really would've bloody well knocked you out," came the voice of the man beside him, "It's a good thing I'm no fool. I realised you'd left as soon as Jensen started going manic, and he'd been drugged to the gills and fast asleep only moments before. Lucky I knew that Omega Rally started today, and with you being such a glutton for punishment… well. You really are an idiot, you know?"

The words passed through one of Jared's ears and out the other. The only one that stuck with him was _Jensen_.

A surge of possessiveness soared up through his body and he immediately flung away the hand that had been resting on his shoulder, weighing him down. Jared forced himself up from the bed, growling and striking at whatever or whoever tried to get in his way. The sheets fell away from his body exposing him to the cool air of the room, though his apparent nakedness was a mere passing thought as stumbled out of the room and into the hallway, stalking through the apartment until he came to another dimly lit bedroom with the door partly closed.

He didn't even have to push the door open to know that his prize was inside – it occurred to him that he'd been able to smell the syrupy-sweet scent since the door had been opened back in the other room, and he'd followed it all the way there like a trail of breadcrumbs, tempting him onward. 

Ignoring the protesting aches of his body, Jared slipped into the bedroom without a sound and immediately pressed himself back against the wall, such was the strength of the smells and sights and sounds that greeted him. He remained where he was and lapped up the fragrant air permeating the space, inhaling it greedily like it was the most delectable perfume. After a moment he forced his eyes back open, not realising he'd had them closed, and gasped at the sight of his omega on the bed, curled into a ball beneath the covers and shaking incessantly. Jared took a single step closer and suddenly noticed the faintest trace of chemicals tainting the scent of the air – the omega was drugged, and it clouded his awareness of the other male. He could have been asleep or in pain and Jared wouldn't know.

A whimper came from the bed, and Jared decided it didn't matter. His omega needed him no matter what. He growled to vocalise his desire, taking his hard cock in hand and stroking it fiercely, but the omega didn't move, gave no sign that he'd noticed Jared at all. 

Prowling closer to the bed, Jared tugged back the quilt and sheets and was pleased to see the omega was already unclothed. He slid onto the bed and crawled atop the other male, skimming his nose just above the surface of his skin, getting drunk on the scent of pure omega. Jared's dick was hard as nails and curling up toward his stomach, painfully desperate and ready to go. It still throbbed and ached like he'd been kicked between the legs, but knowing he was _this close_ soothed the hurt just a little, kept him enduring.

At last he put his large hands on the omega's smaller waist, heaving him up and all but throwing him onto his knees. The omega whimpered again and started to wake, his limbs shuddering even more severely as he tried to push himself up, barely able to keep control of his movements. Jared merely pressed the other male's head back to the mattress and hitched his hips up to an acceptable height, pulling his ass cheeks apart to get a good look as his entrance. He gave one long lick to the pucker of skin and shoved both thumbs inside; pulling the edges of the ring apart to make sure it would stretch. The hole appeared tight but it would have to do, and Jared took his cock in hand, lining it up and thrusting forward without a thought.

The omega cried out beneath him and seemed to struggle for a moment, but Jared took his hips in hand and pulled the omega back onto his length, growling at the intensity of the tight squeeze of muscle around his alpha-proportioned cock, still attempting to widen enough to accommodate him. Jared let himself fall forward so he was pressed over the omega's back, and he began to rut forward in earnest, pulling back quickly before plunging in again, his hips driving forth with great force in order to get the whole of his dick inside the omega.

It felt like liquid bliss when the first trickles of slick began to seep into the omega's channel, coating him and easing the friction of their coupling. It was smooth and silky and wet, and once the fluid had flowed adequately through the omega's ass it began to squeeze itself out of his entrance, leaking down over his inner thighs and clinging to Jared's balls each time they swung forward with a 'slap'. 

Jared could feel his knot beginning to swell and he growled deep in his chest with the agony that accompanied it. As it grew so did the pain, so much so that Jared nearly contemplated stopping, such was the discomfort of that physical part which made him uniquely alpha. But he kept going, letting the pleasure and need pull him through, eagerly ramming his bulging knot into the omega's hole. He clutched the omega's body against his chest and feeling the ongoing cry of his hunger rise up, he latched his teeth onto the omega's neck, biting down until he tasted blood.

The omega tensed and fought against him for a moment until abruptly going still again, and Jared gave one final thrust into the omega's body, his knot locking inside and tying them together. Jared's balls throbbed with pain and suddenly he started to come, his cock pulsating as it shot copious loads of his seed into the omega's ass, the muscles clamping down on him as they worked to milk him dry.

Jared unlatched his teeth from the omega's throat, sucking and licking at the angry red wound. Something deep inside him swelled with pride at the bite, and he yowled happily as he nuzzled the omega everywhere he could reach – through his hair, behind his ears, over the knob at the top of his spine…

Finally the hunger had sated itself, and the hollow pain in Jared's stomach abated, the veil of his alpha-side's desperate rage falling away. He could see and sense things clearly suddenly, without being influenced by his need to dominate and feed and claim what was his. His eyes blinked heavily as if he'd just opened them, and the air he breathed felt clearer. The aches of his body were still present, but they were lessening by the moment, his muscles and bones relaxing into their rightful state.

Beneath him his mate groaned and dropped down on the mattress in a heap, his chest expanding with each exhausted breath he struggled to suck in. Jared smoothed a palm over the expanse of Jensen's back, attempting to soothe away the hurt. Jensen purred with pleasure, the vibrations tickling Jared's hand, but he made no sound, enjoying the contentment in their silence. 

It wasn't until Jensen's ass clamped down on his knot again that certain details came back to him. Looking down he saw that the slick still leaking out around his knot was tinged with pink, and it made him feel ill to think that he'd hurt his mate like this under any circumstance, that he'd lost control so badly that he'd forced himself into the omega's completely unprepared body.

"Oh, fuck, Jen," he whimpered, cutting through the quiet, "I'm so—"

"Don't you dare," his mate hissed, turning his head just enough to look Jared in the eye. There were tears gathering along the edges of his eyelids, but Jensen's expression was one of fury. "Don't you _dare_ apologise for claiming me like the alpha you're _supposed to be_. I've suffered through two days of undiluted pain just waiting for you, and you have no right to take that from me and distort it into something bad."

Jared wound his arms around his mate's waist and held tight. "I didn't mean to."

Jensen sighed and clung on to Jared's arms, fingers digging into the flesh of his wrists. "Why did you make me wait?"

"I- I really don't -," Jared stuttered as he searched for an answer he didn't think he knew, "I don't know for sure. I think I… I just needed to pull away for a minute. I needed to get far enough away that I could feel that longing, and let my body remember why you were mine and what was at stake."

He felt Jensen's nod as his head brushed against him.

"Seb was really mad, y'know." Jared could sense the smile on Jensen's lips. "I have a vague recollection of him yelling that when he found you he was gonna gut you like a fish."

"Well, he can be mad all he likes," he scoffed, "'Cause if I didn't go out like I did, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be in this position right now."

Jensen sighed again. "That's a possibility I don't even wanna imagine."

Holding his mate in his arms felt even more right than it had before, and for Jared it brought to a head just how close they had come to the proverbial 'end'. The mere thought sent shivers down his spine. Of course, now they'd found the light at the end of the tunnel, and that presented a whole new lot of things they would have to work through, not the least of which was finishing their treatments and getting back to a normal state of mind and body. After that… well, they couldn't stay at Seb and Misha's forever, could they?

"Do you have a home, Jen?"

"Not anymore." Jensen burrowed his face into the pillow below his head, his voice muffled against the fabric. "When I got Seb to go get my clothes 'n' stuff back at the beginning, I asked him to cancel my lease with the landlord as well. At that point I wasn't holding out much hope, so…"

"Do you want to find a new place, then? Seb and Misha told me they'd help. Apparently there's a new complex being built just a few blocks away—"

"No," his mate interrupted, "I can't stay here anymore. Not after living through that Omega Rally. It's… I need to start fresh. As soon as we can I wanna get outta here."

"Fair enough…" Jared wasn't particularly keen on staying in the District either. Not only were there too many memories but he'd spent so much time out in the human world, he'd simply grown to prefer it, and hoped Jensen might grow to like it out there as well. Misha and Seb would accommodate them as long as they needed, of course, but there was a certain gratification to being able to actually think of the future for once. "If you're interested… I, um, have a small apartment in a human city not far from D9. It's barely big enough for one, so we'd have to look for somewhere else together, but at least we wouldn't be out in the cold, y'know?"

"Jay?" Jensen breathed, reaching a hand around to cup Jared's face and lure him down to his lips, "That sounds like the best fuckin' thing I've heard all day."

=////=

 

They'd survived nearly three months in Jared's tiny apartment and were finally moving in to their own place, a brand new home more than big enough for the two of them. 

It had been more than six months since they'd found their way back to each other as alpha and omega, as mates. Jared had found a new sense of comfort in being an alpha, and Jensen took every opportunity to show off the pale scar on his neck, solid proof of his status as a claimed omega.

After their 'secondary mating' – as they liked to refer to it – they'd remained at Seb and Misha's apartment until they were sure everything was okay and they had sussed out all the changes their bodies had succumbed to. On the negative side Jensen's body had officially burnt itself out and no longer went into heat four times a year, though he did occasionally get a little feverish and weak when his heat would otherwise have been due, and sometimes he had trouble controlling his body's lubrication, where sometimes it would be excessive, other times it took time to coax it out. Jared had infrequent bursts of changing mood, his easy-going disposition sometimes dropping into pseudo-depression, and sometimes if tired or stressed he would be overtaken by his alpha side again, getting overexcited and riled-up until Jensen could talk him down.

On the positive side though, they'd discovered the true strength of their bond, and had found that they could say just about anything to each other with a mere touch or a shared look. Their sense of each other's mood and needs and wants was as easy as knowing their own, and being able to accurately know where their mate was at any time made things less tense all round. 

They caught up with Seb and Misha at least every few weeks, and checked in with Dr Morgan on occasion too, both to make sure they were okay and to help the doctor out if he ever had an alpha-omega medical issue similar to theirs. Jared had also talked to his mother on the phone thought he hadn't gotten around to visiting yet. She and his father were slowly coming around to the idea of Jared being mated to an omega, though seemingly she wasn't too sure how to deal with her newly alpha-charged son – she thought his confidence was 'surprising' and hoped he might cool down a little before he did come to visit with Jensen. 

Jared had also been accepted back to his job with a minimum of fuss – in fact, Mr Kripke had been ridiculously happy to see his return, and was excited about the prospect of taking over the publishing rights of his mate's books and articles. Jensen, on the other hand, had taken off his 'sci-fi/fantasy' hat and was trying his hand at a novel of the more _dramatic_ persuasion. He'd told Jared he was going to attempt to dramatize the ups and downs of their mating. He wanted to explore in-depth into everything from their gratifying highs to their ominous and depressive lows, and look into what drives an alpha and what makes an omega tick. He wanted to expose the ever-strengthening threads of their bond to the world – even in fictional fashion – and show that despite the threat of impeding death they could overcome anything. Jensen was going to call it 'The Right Kind of Medicine' and he bragged that it was going to be a masterpiece.

Jared thought it terribly overdramatic and had earned himself a beating for his honesty, but secretly it made him stupidly happy that his mate was so proud of their bond, and he was pretty sure Jensen knew it, too. 

"You know that the answer is sex, right?"

Jensen turned to look at him with a quizzical look on his face. "The answer to what is _what_?"

Jared smirked. His mate was so adorable. "The answer to your _book_. The right kind of medicine is sex. Really hard, vicious, painful-but-pleasurable sex."

He didn't even realise what had happened until the side of his face started to sting and he looked down at Jensen's hand, still at the ready. "What the fuck, Jen?"

"You're right."

"…Say again?"

Jensen rolled his eyes impatiently. "The answer is sex."

"Then why the hell—" Jared choked.

"I am _not_ fucking _adorable_ you douchebag. Just see if _you_ get any ass tonight."

"Aww, Jen," he whined, pouting at his mate and pulling teasingly at his sleeve. Jensen always gave up in the end, but it was fun to annoy him all the same. "You shouldn't deny me, y'know? I might get depressed."

"Oh, puh-lease. I've heard that one before."

Jared couldn't hold back anymore and laughed until his eyes watered. He pulled Jensen in close and pressed their lips together, drinking in the sweetness of his mate's mouth and feeling a satisfied growl rumble deep in his stomach. They'd been through so much together in such a short time, but the trauma only made the pleasure feel more significant, not a day went by that Jared didn't feel grateful for his mate and the endurance of both their lives. They still touched and held hands at every given opportunity, and every single time Jared felt those sparks of want, that mantra of _Mine_ , echo through his body. 

Once upon a time he'd thought he'd never need one, had thought having one probably wasn't for him, but now that Jared had a mate it was everything. It excited him. Comforted him. Taught him love and patience and compromise. It touched him and healed him. Jensen was his cure-all. Nothing could hurt him any more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks for reading! This wasn't meant to be a long sequel by any means, yet it grew like a weed and ended up over 18k in length D:  
> Regardless, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. I got everything in there that I wanted to and didn't cut anything out. So I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :D


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